Reception Centre in Susica

“They stayed for a short period of time until conditions for their departure were met,” said witness Mane Djuric, who was Chief of the Public Safety Station in Vlasenica as of May 1992.

According to the witness’ testimony, fear for safety and fear from revenge were the reasons for leaving Vlasenica, which was left by both the Bosniak and Serb population.

The indictment alleges that Vlasenica is one of the six municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, in which the persecution of the Bosniak and Croat population reached the scale of genocide. It further alleges that around 150 detainees were killed in Susica detention camp from May to September 1992.

Witness Djuric said that, due to constant objections by the Red Cross that “somebody forced people to leave”, the Crisis Committee of Vlasenica decided that the Muslim population had to sign a document on voluntary departure if they wanted to leave.

Saying that Dragan Nikolic, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison as Manager of that facility, admitted guilt for crimes in Susica detention camp before The Hague Tribunal, the Prosecution examined the witness about processing of the crimes during the war.

Out of more than 200 filed criminal reports to which the Prosecution referred, Djuric was not able to confirm that any of them were filed against a Serb due to crimes against members of other ethnic groups.

At this hearing The Hague Prosecutors continued cross-examining witness Veljko Maric, former Director of the hospital in Foca, who confirmed that the hospital accommodated a certain number of Bosniak children, who were not sick.

The witness was presented with data about the accommodation of Bosniak children at the hospital. According to the Prosecution’s evidence, parents and other family members of those children had been killed in Foca. The witness was not able to say anything about the reasons for accommodating those children at the hospital.

“I am a surgeon. I was in the operating room. All those, who asked for help, were admitted…The hospital performed the additional humane role, which was not its obligation,” Maric said, adding that the children stayed there until some other accommodation was found for them.

When asked about the wounded Bosniak children, women and the elderly, who were brought to the Foca hospital, the witness confirmed that they received medical assistance, but he mentioned that wounded Serb civilians and soldiers, about 2,500 of them, were also brought to the hospital.

The trial of Mladic, former VRS Commander, who is also charged with genocide in Srebrenica, a terror campaign against the local population in Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage, is due to continue on Monday, November 3.